Ladyfingers – A From Scratch Recipe Perfect For Tiramisu

Ladyfingers, like Oreo cookies and graham crackers, can easily be made from scratch at home (see my homemade Oreo cookies and homemade graham crackers for details on those cookies). From scratch ladyfingers will certainly be fresher than store-bought ones, and you probably already have the ingredients on hand (eggs, sugar, flour, and baking powder).

When you make homemade ladyfingers, you also get a chance to get creative! Why not try making man-toes or little babyfingers? For a Bachelorette party, you could try making and then eating some other body parts. ;) Or, if like me, you’re thinking cupcakes, you can make your ladyfingers in cupcake tins so that they are all ready to be used in tiramisu cupcakes.

Notice how they aren’t filled to the top so there is room for all of the tiramisu goodness!

It’s important to know that ladyfingers come in two varieties – the crunchy kind and the soft, sponge cake-like kind. The ladyfinger recipe that I am sharing here is for the soft kind. This is the kind that works best in tiramisu because it can better absorb all of the coffee/rum syrup.

I wouldn’t recommend eating these ladyfingers on their own. Their flavor comes from whatever you soak them in. If you don’t want to make tiramisu with them (I’m not sure why you wouldn’t), you could also dunk the ladyfingers in chocolate milk or whipped cream or chocolate fondue. Feel free to share other ideas in the comments.

Ladyfinger Recipe

Update: If you are using this to make tiramisu cupcakes, either cut this recipe in half or double the tiramisu cupcake recipe.

Ladyfingers – A From Scratch Recipe Perfect For Tiramisu

Ingredients

Instructions

Line two 17 x 12 inch baking sheets with baking parchment. (Or, if you are going to use these for tiramisu cupcakes, line a 12 cupcake tin with cupcake liners.)

Fit large pastry bag with a plain 1/2 inch round tube. If you don't have one, just cut off the end of a Ziploc bag.

Place egg whites in a bowl and beat on high until soft peaks start to form.

Slowly add 2 tablespoons of the sugar and continue beating until stiff and glossy.

In another bowl, beat egg yolks and remaining sugar.

Whip until thick and very pale in color.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder.

Fold half the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture.

Fold in flour, and then add the remaining egg whites.

Transfer mixture to the pastry bag (or Ziploc bag) and pipe strips that look like ladyfingers (or whatever shape you'd like) onto the prepared baking sheet. Alternatively, evenly divide the batter between the cupcake liners. The cupcake liners will not be filled to the top (see the photo above).

I love tirimasu! It is my favorite dessert, so naturally when I saw the tirimasu cupcake recipe I wanted to make it.

I followed your recipe for the ladyfingers exactly and piped the batter into my cupcake liners, but mine filled the liners way more than the ones you show in your picture. I didn’t have much room for my marscapone mixture on top.

Did you use all of the batter you made to evenly divide into the cupcake liners?

The only reason that I can think that mine made more than yours is that I used jumbo sized eggs instead of large. Would that make a big difference?

Erin – When I made these, I got 12 cupcakes out of this ladyfinger recipe. But, a few people have commented that it made much more. Someone just told me that it made 30 cupcakes. So, I’m not really sure how to advise you. I’d prob double it just to be on the safe side. And if you don’t mind letting me know what you ended up doing and how many cupcakes it made, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

I made these cupcakes and I found that the batter makes significantly more than 12 cupcakes. They make more than 12 with the cups filled with 2oz of batter. I ended up making 24. I was quite confused at the beginning then read that some people were having the same issues. Are we doing something wrong?

Wiley – Was it just the ladyfinger batter that there was too much of or also the tiramisu batter? Did it make 24 good-sized cupcakes? If everyone is having this issue, perhaps I will adjust the recipe.

Tiramisu cupcakes! Wonderful. Half the recipe made 18 cupcakes, using large eggs and regular large muffin tins (the kind from Zelllers or discount place). Used paper liners but will use foil next time as they don’t last well from the soaking step.

Just made them and half of them look great! I only cooked them for 5 minutes and the ones on the bottom shelf are burned on the bottoms. The top shelf ones look good so it was my fault for putting some on the bottom. However, I’d caution anyone to watch them carefully because if I would have gone 8 minutes, they all would have burned. I guess I’ll use the good ones on the bottom layer of the tiramisu and the crumbles I scrape off the other as the 2nd layer. I’ll let you know how it turns out!

I just made these and they are awesome. My daughter and I plan to make tiramisu parfaits tomorrow and I decided to make my own lady fingers. So glad I did. They’re not as “thick” as I thought they’d be but I probably just need to make the batter higher. Thanks for the recipe

My bet is that the egg yolks weren’t whipped enough and/or when folding in the flour you stirred too much and lost any air you had incorporated into the batter. You really do have to make sure each egg part is whipped well before assembling. Also, be delicate in folding in the flour.

Hi! I had to comment because this recipe worked so well for me. I had no idea lady fingers would be so easy to make, and I can’t wait to try the tiramisu they went into. I did two batches for a double layered tiramisu and cooked the second batch until golden and barely crispy on the outside. I totally prefer that way since the sugar almost caramelizes and it soaks up a lot more espresso. Thanks for a nice recipe!

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Hi Stef,
I’m making Lady Fingers Milano (I think I’ll call them), and wanted chocolate cake with the consistency of the fingers I remember from when I was a kid. Took your recipe, added maybe a TB or 2 of cocoa and piped them to bake. Then took two and layered in some Betty Crocker chocolate icing for the sandwich. Done and Done! Tried this with regular cupcakes and they were too dense, wouldn’t cut in half (for layers) and so forth. The Lady Fingers work like a charm. Thanks for the recipe!